


Allies Or Enemies

by awnrii



Category: Henry Stickmin - Fandom
Genre: A LOT of Angst, Angst, Betrayal, Blood, Choose Your Own Adventure, Enemies to Lovers, Guns, Lovers To Enemies, M/M, Sad Charles, Violence, charles dies, help its 1:42am, henry talks in this one, no beta we die like charles, so angsty
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-08-19
Updated: 2020-08-22
Packaged: 2021-03-06 01:07:52
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 11
Words: 2,322
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25994971
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/awnrii/pseuds/awnrii
Summary: Toppat Henry and Charles meet.It’s up to you to decide where their story goes.
Relationships: Henry Stickmin/Charles Calvin
Comments: 17
Kudos: 106





	1. beginnings

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A bitter reunion.

"This is the General. I'm calling it a full retreat. Repeat, the mission is a no-go."  
Charles heard that loud and clear. Damn.  
And he thought he would be able to get revenge.  
He runs past the bullets, zipping past him at speeds he can't comprehend.  
One bullet hits his headphones, and the General's announcement fizzes out.  
Great.  
He weaves through the flying lead, eager to find somewhere to take cover.  
A bullet hits him square in the left arm.  
Pain blooms in his left arm, and he feels blood trickle down his sleeves as the arm goes numb slowly.  
That's gonna have some repercussions.  
No time for that.  
He dives into some bushes, and finds himself tumbling down a small hill.  
The branches and twigs scratching past his wounds hurt like hell, but he doesn't have time to care.  
Years of military training teaches you that pain is temporary.  
Charles props himself up wearily at the bottom, shuffling through some bushes.  
He whacks the side of his headphones in vain, hoping to get some form of communication.  
Nothing - just static.  
Then he hears faint murmuring.  
He peeks out of the bushes, twigs clinging onto his muddy hair.

Henry, in a tank, talking to the Toppats.  
He tosses a walkie-talkie over. Charles can hear the General's faint retreat announcement.  
"You.. protected the clan?"  
Henry smiles smugly. The Toppats look to each other for a moment, and then they toss him a top hat embezzled with jewels.  
That's the hat the leader wears, isn't it?

**[ WHAT WILL CHARLES DO ? ]**

 ****

[YELL](https://archiveofourown.org/works/25994971/chapters/63200458#workskin)  
[ STAY QUIET](https://archiveofourown.org/works/25994971/chapters/63326149)  
[CONTACT GENERAL](https://archiveofourown.org/works/25994971/chapters/63326209)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> oooh man... making a CYOA fic for STICKMEN. oh yeah babey.


	2. YELL

"Henry?"  
Henry whips his head around, looking for the source of the sound.  
Charles slowly peeks his head out of the bushes, and gives a pained wave with his right arm.  
The Toppats raise their guns, fingers on the trigger.

[ WHAT WILL HENRY DO ? ]  


[PERMISSION TO SHOOT](https://archiveofourown.org/works/25994971/chapters/63326092)  
[ LOWER GUNS](https://archiveofourown.org/works/25994971/chapters/63326266)  



	3. STAY QUIET

Charles stays behind the bushes, gritting his teeth together to avoid letting out any noises of pain. God, that bush was painful.  
He tried to listen in on their conversation.  
“....Government…….retreat…… leader” said one Toppat.  
Henry shrugged, and said something like “Gone…Betrayed….Win.”  
Charles bit onto his shirt hoodie. It’s taking all of his power not to yell.  
He hears a Toppat ask: “....Headphones- Pilot…”  
That’s referring to Charles, right?  
He sees Henry shrug again.  
“Left behind.”  
The fabric he was biting on rips, a little.  
Really, what was he hoping for?  
Avenging Henry’s ‘death’ for months - led up to being left behind.  
Left behind.

His headphones fizzed back to life.  
“Char—s, I repea—,—o you read me—“  
Ah. The General.  
Charles taps the microphone in Morse code.  
[READ YOU. TOPPATS HERE]  
The General murmurs something.  
“Locati—n?”  
Charles reaches to tap the microphone again, but he shifts too fast, and his arm catches on a twig and-  
“Agh!”  
The Toppats whip their heads over to his direction.  
Uh oh.  
The General frantically calls for a response. “Cha—ie, is eve—-thi—g OK?”  
Charlie pulls the mic closer to his mouth, wincing at his arm.  
“Nope.”  
The Toppats pull out their guns.

**[ WHAT WILL CHARLES DO ? ] ******

****

[NEGOTIATE](N)  
[ HENRY !](H)  



	4. CONTACT THE GENERAL

Charles shifts back quietly, whapping his headset.  
“Charlie reportin— ah-“ Charles hisses in pain at the sudden movement. This arm sucks.  
“Charlie! Where— you b——n, ———“ the static grows, and then fades. Headset fixed. “Where are you?”  
“General- Toppats base locate—“  
A bullet hits him square in the stomach before he can continue.  
Another bullet whizzes past. Another one embeds itself into Charles' leg. Charles lets out a cry of agony.  
It does not take long for the General to understand.  
Charles holds onto the wound tightly, heart pounding in his chest.  
He looks up, coughing. Henry was staring at him with disappointment as the Toppat put their gun away, sneering.  
Disappointment.  
So the mission was a bust.  
And he was bleeding out alone, in some jungle.  
“Charlie, can you hear me?”  
“Ah- G-General, ah, uhm-“  
“Charlie, is the wound critical”  
“Stomach, s-sir-“  
Charles hears the commanding of a medic to be brought with backup.  
Will they be fast enough?  
No.  
No, they won’t, because Charles has seen this. He has seen his coworkers get shot, countless times, and he has held their ice cold hands as they choked on their own blood.  
Charles knows they will be too late.  
And here he thought he was on to something.  
“Genera-General,” he gasps, clinging onto the wounds. “General I- agh, shit- I’m sorry-“  
The tears are now streaming down his face as he lets his shoulders go lax. He’s far too tired to hold them upright.  
“Charlie, hold on, alright? Hold on for me, the medics-“  
“General they- they aren’t gonna make it. I’m not gonna make it. I’m- I’m sorry.”  
His vision was so blurry. He was so tired.  
“Ah- General… Heh, uhm, if I don’t make it- this-ah, this is really cli-iche, b-ut, uuhm, you- you were like a dad, to me - you- you know?”  
Charles can hear the quake in the General’s voice. “Charlie- yes. I-“ pause. “You’re like a son to me.”  
Charles smiles. “I-I’m glad.”  
There’s a wet cough.  
“I-I’m really tired.”  
“I know, Charlie. Stay- Stay awake for me. We’re comin’, okay?”  
“I’m t- I’m trying. It’s really- ah, its-“ a hiss of pain. “It’s really hh-ard, sir.”  
“I think I’m- I’m going to sleep.”  
“Charlie-“  
“G-auh- Good-Goodnight, G- uhm, General.”  
The laboured breathing over the comms slow to a stop.

Charles is peaceful, when they find him, matted in blood.

Charles is dead.  
The General resigns a few days after the funeral.  
Henry is not heard of, but information states he is still working with the Toppats. Attempts to capture or kill him are unsuccessful. 

[ BAD END ]

**ENDING: The Hanged Man ******


	5. PERMISSION TO SHOOT

Henry nods to the Toppats, and hops out the tank.  
Reginald smiles, and pats Henry on the back.  
He feels a little satisfaction as he hears the guns fire, hearing the dull thud.  
The hat is pulled over his eyes.

The military find Charles' dead body behind the bushes.  
The General mourns, and never stops mourning.  
Henry Stickmin remains missing, and is presumed dead several months after Charles' death.

[ BAD END ]

**ENDING: Reversed Star ******


	6. LOWER GUNS

Henry waves idly to the Toppats, giving a signal to lower their guns and to leave him to deal with the intruder.  
The Toppats begrudgingly take their leave.  
Henry hops out of the tank, striding to the bushes.  
The hat sits on his head, where it belongs.  
"Henry! What's -agh" Charles winces as a particularly sharp twig brushes past the gunshot wound on his arm. "Ow - heh, uhm, I forgot how bad those are. What's with the hat?" Charles points to the top hat on Henry's head.  
Henry stares in mute annoyance.  
"Is, uh, is that your plan?"  
"To- uhm, to infiltrate the Toppats? General already said to retreat."  
Henry does not say a word.  
The gun sits in its holster, loaded.  
"Henry?"  
Henry breaks his silence.  
"I know the General said to retreat."  
Charles lets out a breath, resembling a tired laugh. "Yeah. So, uhm, we should go."  
"I'm not going anywhere." Henry flicks the top of his tophat. "I got what I came for, and I don't intend on leaving."  
"What- What do you mean?"  
"You know what I mean."

**[ WHAT WILL CHARLES DO ? ] ******

****

[RAGE](https://archiveofourown.org/works/25994971/chapters/63326338)  
[ RESIGNATION ](https://archiveofourown.org/works/25994971/chapters/63326413)  



	7. RAGE

"You-" Charles laughs bitterly. "You can't be serious."  
Henry stares back, face of stone, as if to disagree.  
"You..."  
Charles feels the fear melt away, replaced with bubbling anger.  
"You betrayed us?"  
"For- for them?"  
Henry nods cooly.  
"You… We did so much for you."  
"We … You - You're just going to turn your backs on us?"  
Henry nods again, as if to say 'duh'.

Charles is not one to be angry.  
But there are times where he snaps, and this is one of them.  
He dives for Henry, grabbing his stupid collar, pinning him to the ground. His arm is yelling at him, the crimson red blood dripping quietly by Henry's side.  
"We sacrificed so much for you! I- I dropped everything for you, and- you just leave? I-"  
"I thought you fucking died!"  
Henry blinks, bored.  
"Listen to me, you bastard!"  
After routes and routes of being a punching bag, these are no different.  
But they are weak, and hesitant.  
Charles shakes Henry by his collar.  
"Why?"  
The silence mocks Charles.  
"Why?!" He yells, forcing an answer out of Henry.  
"I saw the potential and I simply took it."  
Charles stares in mock disbelief for a moment, and drops Henry, laughing. There is hurt behind the chuckling.  
"Everything is for your own gain, huh?"  
"You know, I-"  
Charles heaves himself off of Henry.  
"I loved you, once."  
Henry props himself up, dusting off his coat.  
He will have to wash this, later.  
"Did you, now?" Henry asks.  
"Yeah. Not anymore though."  
"Hm." Henry's gloved fingers trace the metal of the gun. "What changed?"  
Charles grips his arm, and it is so quiet that Henry can hear the blood drip.  
"You did."  
Henry can only stare in silence.  
His heart ached.  
"I hate you." Charles mutters.  
"Hm?"  
"I hate you." Charles shouts, venom dripping from the words.  
Henry feels guilt tug in his heart.

**[ WHAT WILL HENRY DO ? ] ******

****

[CONVERT](https://archiveofourown.org/works/25994971/chapters/63326431#workskin)  
[ ATTACK](https://archiveofourown.org/works/25994971/chapters/63326473)  



	8. RESIGNATION

“Henry?” Charles didn’t want to believe it.  
No. His friend - his best friend, turned against him.  
No. No, no, no…  
He feels hot tears form in his eyes.  
Henry is still standing cooly.  
“Please.” Charles pleads,voice cracking, heavy with closed floodgates. “Please, come home with me, I- I thought you’d died and, I just-“  
“I want you back.”  
Henry sighs.  
“I knew you were foolish but, this is a bit much.” He says, in a voice far too emotionless to be Henry.  
“I am not abandoning my goal to go back with you.”  
Something about that made Charles break.  
It started with soft,dry chuckling, and then it slowly devolved into heavy sobs, leaving Charles on the ground, mourning.  
Mourning for the man standing in front of him, weapons trained in every direction.  
He cannot bring himself to scream when he feels the bullets, he cannot bring himself to protest.  
He wills himself to fight against the blurry lines, his vision dotted with black spots.  
He chokes out a weak “H-Henry”, spluttered with blood and tears.  
Henry cocks his head to the side in response, humouring Charles for his last moments.  
Desperately, Charles absentmindedly grabs Henry’s clean, white coat, staining it red.  
Henry realises a few minutes later that Charles is dead.  
Charles’ grip on his coat has not weakened.  
Henry drops the dead pilot.  
“Henry reporting.”  
“Ah, Leader!” The Toppat from the other side responds.  
“Intruder has been taken care of.”  
He thinks for a moment.  
“Get me another coat. This ones dirty.” He spits into the mic.

Henry is more ruthless.  
He successfully takes down the Government , and is able to launch the Station successfully .  
It is rumoured that he does not show mercy.

[ BAD END ]

**ENDING: The Magician ******


	9. CONVERT

"Charles…" Henry lets go of his gun.  
"Charles. Join me."  
"...What?" Charles is tired. He is so, tired, and Henry wants to hold him close.  
"We can- we can leave. Go to space, and- be together."  
Charles contemplates it wearily.  
"Please."  
Henry missed Charles.  
He really did.  
You think you'd get sick of him, routes and routes of silly failures later, but…  
He found he never did.  
He wanted to hold Charles, and tell him that everything would be okay, if they left.

**[ WHAT WILL CHARLES DO ? ] ******

****

[JOIN](j)  
[ REBEL ](r)  



	10. ATTACK

Henry shakes away the guilt and pain in his heart, and pulls out the gun, keeping his hands steady.  
Charles laughs a semblance of something he remembers - now lined with hurt and rage.  
"You're going to kill me?"  
"Yes."  
Charles looks at the ground, smiling.  
"I miss you." he says, and looks back up to Henry, and his smile faded.  
"The real you."

Henry lets the bullet fly before Charles can say anything.   
He can't bear anymore. No.  
He will not let this route fail.  
He does not look back when he hears the cry of pain, or the laboured breathing, or the ached crying.  
He does not turn back.  
No.  
The Henry Stickmin he knew is dead and gone, left behind timelines ago.

Charles is found dead.  
Henry is a successful Toppat leader.  
Henry no longer responds to Henry. He responds to "Leader" or "Stickmin", now. If you were to call him Henry, you would be lucky to get away alive.  
Henry does not recall the name Charles. 

[ BAD END ]

**ENDING: Wheel Of Fortune ******


	11. NEGOTIATE

“Uhm- Hi!”  
The guns do not lower.  
“Okay- uhm, I don’t have any weapons, heh, uhm, you kind of blew up my only possession so, uh. I’m pretty much harmless. Could we, uhm, talk this out?”  
The Toppats hate talking stuff out. Charles knows this.  
But if his memory serves him right, Henry will not use violence first.  
Violence is always the last resort, he thinks Henry said once. It’s fuzzy.  
Henry steps down from the tank, seemingly equally surprised by Charles appearance. He nods to dismiss the Toppats, and strolls over to Charles.  
“Henry. I- uhm. I thought you died.”  
“I am not dead.”  
“Yeah, haha, I can see that.”  
“Why are you here?”  
“Military. Why are you here?”  
“Dog eat dog world out there.”  
“Mm.” Charles’ other arm hurts. He can feel the warm blood deep into his clothes.  
“Are you okay?”  
“Uh, no. I got shot once or twice.”  
Henry’s eyes shift to genuine concern.  
“Waiwaiwait. Aren’t we- uhm, supposed to kill each other? We’re on- uh, opposite sides.”  
Henry looks left and right warily.  
“We are. But you’re still my friend. At least, I hope so.”  
Charles wishes they were more. He kicks himself for that thought.  
“Henry.” Charles voice is more serious.  
“Come home with me.”  
Henry stares back with wide eyes.

**[ WHAT WILL HENRY DO ? ]  
**

****

****

[YES](Y)  
[ NO](N)  



End file.
